Tag Archives: GPSGAY

“Before Agora, we knew that we were causing impact but had no idea how to track it. The Accelerator taught us how to measure and explain the impact we were having on the LGBTQ community.”

Magdalena Rodríguez believes in the power of social inclusion to change the lives of the LGBTQ community. With a background in web design, Magdalena launched her career in the tech world, founding a web design and development company in Uruguay with her wife in 2006. Growing increasingly dissatisfied with the lack of change she was making in a tech agency, Magdalena began to search for new ideas of social impact. She wanted to add value to the LGBTQ community she was a part of, and make a difference to the individuals who were still frequently excluded from society.

Upon reviewing the many applications and platforms already available to the LGBTQ community, Magdalena realized that there was something missing. Many were focused solely on finding a sexual partner, and those that did provide valuable information and consulting services to individuals did not take advantage of the community’s potential as a unique market. Thus was born the idea for GPSGAY.

As the largest and most comprehensive platform for the LGBTQ community in Latin America, GPSGAY is simultaneously a safe space where individuals can solicit advice, support, and consulting services, a medium through which companies and organizations can engage with the community, a source for relevant content including upcoming events, news, and health information, and a marketplace for products including healthcare, travel, and entertainment.

Looking for impact investors who would help take GPSGAY to the next level, Magdalena applied to Agora’s Accelerator and was accepted to its 2016 Class. The retreat and months of consulting that followed brought invaluable benefits. Magdalena and her team learned to better measure the impact they were creating, developed a stronger business plan that catered to addressing the health and self-esteem of individuals users, and connected with impact investors in a market less familiar with LGBTQ startups.

Following the Accelerator, Magdalena has secured $300,000 from a Swiss investor, strengthened GPSGAY’s internal system to better organize its sales, and made the decision to set up offices in the U.S. With plans to further expand the networks of support and information and strengthen self-esteem, GPSGAY is poised to continue its rapid expansion.

With GPSGAY, Magdalena hopes for nothing more than to make the world a little bit brighter for the LGBTQ community. She hopes that participation in this platform can make her users happier and more confident, and shares that the grateful messages they receive from the community are her greatest source of motivation and inspiration.

GPSGAY is run on its founders’ honesty, accountability, and respect, and it is changing the world, one user at a time.